In some types of welding, molten metal is applied to a groove between two objects to join them together. Molten metal may be applied until a termination point in the groove is reached. Appropriately terminating the weld at the termination point is important for obtaining a weld with sufficient structural integrity and for preventing molten metal from flowing to undesired locations. Terminating such a weld, however, presents several challenges.
In some approaches, a weld is terminated by blocking molten metal at the termination point manually by an operator. Such an approach, however, may not produce a desired repeatability among welds and may be costly and dangerous. Weld termination may instead be automated, though both approaches encounter difficulty when terminating a weld against an uneven surface. In this scenario, insufficient weld termination may weaken welds and fail to prevent undesired molten metal flow.